In recent years, piezoelectric vibrators using crystals or the like have been used in mobile phones or personal digital assistants, as time sources or timing sources such as control signals, or reference signal sources and the like. There are various examples of such piezoelectric vibrators, but the surface mount type piezoelectric vibrator is known as one such example. With this type of piezoelectric vibrator, a two layer structure type, in which a base substrate and a lid substrate are directly bonded to each other and a piezoelectric vibrating reed is accommodated in a cavity formed between the two substrates, is known. In addition, the piezoelectric vibrating reed has a pair of vibration arm portions extending in parallel, a pair of excitation electrodes that vibrate the pair of vibration arm portions, and a mount electrode that is electrically connected to the pair of excitation electrodes, and is mounted on the base substrate via the mount electrode.
However, it is generally desirable with piezoelectric vibrators that the equivalent resistance values (effective resistance value, Re) of the piezoelectric vibrator are preferably lowered. Since piezoelectric vibrators with low equivalent resistance values can vibrate a piezoelectric vibrating reed using less electric power, they are more energy efficient piezoelectric vibrators.
As one of the common methods of suppressing the equivalent resistance value, the option of making the inside of a cavity closer to a vacuum is known. Furthermore, as a method of making the inside of a cavity closer to a vacuum, the option of heating and activating getter material (a process known as gettering), which is a metallic film inside a cavity, by irradiating a laser or the like from the outside, is known (see Patent Citation 1).
According to this method, since the getter material in the activation state absorbs the gas mainly consisting of oxygen in the cavity by chemical reaction, the inside of the cavity can be made closer to a vacuum. In addition, the getter material is arranged on a surface of the piezoelectric vibrating reed or an inner wall of a substrate that forms the cavity.                Patent Citation 1: JP-A-2003-142976        
However, in the piezoelectric vibrator of the related art, during gettering, the below problems remained depending on the position where the getter material was arranged.
That is, firstly, in a case where the getter material is arranged on the surface of the piezoelectric vibrating reed, since the piezoelectric vibrating reed is also heated upon heating the getter material by a laser, the piezoelectric vibrating reed is subjected to the stresses of heating.
Furthermore, in a case where the getter material is arranged on the inner wall of a substrate, there was a high chance that a part of the getter material, which was evaporated and scattered when the getter material was heated by a laser, would become attached to an outer surface of the piezoelectric vibrating reed. That is, there was a chance that the getter material could deposit on the outer surface of the piezoelectric vibrating reed. Particularly, the nearer the irradiation position of the laser, the more easily the evaporated getter material was attached. Moreover, when the getter material became attached, there was a risk that a portion between a pair of excitation electrodes formed on the outer surface of the piezoelectric vibrating reed would conduct and short-circuit.
The invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a piezoelectric vibrating reed that can perform the gettering while suppressing the short-circuiting of a portion between a pair of excitation electrodes without subjecting the piezoelectric vibrating reed to load due to the heating. Furthermore, another object thereof is to provide a piezoelectric vibrator manufacturing method of manufacturing a piezoelectric vibrator, an oscillator having the piezoelectric vibrator, and electronic equipment and a radio-controlled timepiece.